In distributed, in particular safety-related systems or networks, a data exchange among the participating subscribers is needed to enable reliable decisions or assessments to be made, even in the event of an error. This means that the error must be reliably recognized, and appropriate measures must be introduced to avoid a degradation of safety or system failure.
Such distributed safety-related systems are known from the vehicle sector as x-by-wire systems. A most important objective in this context is to ensure the functional reliability of such systems. This is described in the article “X-by-Wire—Die sichere Alternative”, from Auto-und Elektronik 2/2000 on pages 73 through 75.
Typically, the information, in particular the data among the subscribers, is exchanged through direct connections to all subscribers. Here, the networks, in particular the underlying bus systems, generally have a redundant design, which leads to substantial outlay and limited flexibility.
Thus, the related art has not been able to yield optimum results in all regards. It is, therefore, the object of the present invention to devise a method and a device for transmitting information in a network which, on the one hand, permits optimal, safety-related decisions and assessments to be made, and, on the other hand, entails a reduced outlay, in particular a reduced number of transmission paths, while providing a high degree of flexibility.